Tuesday, May 24, 2011

#BooksWithBeddes: Eat, Pray, Love: What's in a Word?

"Then he went on to explain, in a mixture of English, Italian and hand gestures, that every city has a single word that defines it, that identifies most people who live there. If you could read people's thoughts as they were passing you on the streets of any given place, you would discover that most of them are thinking the same thought. Whatever that majority though might be--that is the word of the city. And if your personal word does not match the word of the city, then you don't really belong there." (pg 103)

So I know it's been awhile since I read Eat, Pray Love (EPL) told you all about it but I came across this post that I had yet to post. (No worries, I have two more where this came from.) I think my thought-process what along the lines of spreading out the quotes from EPL to prevent chick-lit overload. Truly, humans can only take so much rom-com or chick-lit stuff.
Ahem.
Back to the quote at hand.
Isn't this the most intriguing idea? This concept that every city has a word--one word--that defines it and most of the people who live there. If this were true, it makes an interesting argument. Have you ever been to a place and just immediately been felt at home? Maybe the word that defines you is the same word that defines the city. Oooooo.
The only glitch in this idea is, have you ever tried defining yourself in one word? It's hard. I see myself on a spectrum. And I am rarely definitive on any one concept. But I like the idea of one central word that all other descriptive words depend upon; the keystone of your personality, if you will. It must be nice to know yourself so well, as to describe yourself in such a parsimonious package.
Therefore, because I think it's a good idea, I'm going to issue a challenge. The challenge is thus: that each of you lovely readers must find your word--the word--that defines you. And then tell me about the adventure that such a search is bound to be. I am going to do the same. Once I find my word, to be sure, I will let you know. And since it's me, you can be sure, it will be a funny story

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